river they/them

you all will be so proud of me !! i unhauled about 40 books the other day! #booksky

this is so helpful to settle my nerves!! i’ve been pretty good about less than 4 stars/books i’ll never read again, it’s just the unread ones that keep making me go back and forth! but i have a great local library and, you’re right, my reading taste has changed so much! gotta bite the bullet! :)

this is 100% it, i just need to get out of my weird anxiety that unhauling means the book is gone forever !!

i am such a book hoarder but i am very literally running out of space, so 2025 is the year of the unhaul !!!

(someone tell me how to unhaul books i haven’t read it, i physically can’t make myself! what if i want to read them in a year or two??)

started my arc of fable for the end of the world by ava reid and am loving it so far! #booksky

River's review of The Lotus Empire (The Burning Kingdoms, #3) 5/5: 4.5/5 I promised long ago that I would carry your grief for you. So lay it in my hands. I am a broken shell, I am ruined, I am wrecked. This was so beautiful. I have no words (but I will st...

My last and favourite read of the year is… (drum roll pls)

1. The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri (the third and final book in The Burning Kingdoms trilogy)

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I sobbed. The entire time.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failu…

2. All Systems Red by Martha Wells

www.goodreads.com/book/show/32...

My entire review for this is: I am Murderbot, Murderbot is me. And I stand by that!

River's review of Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) 4/5: 4.5/5 Now you'll sleep. And tomorrow we'll do the same again. And again. Until one day you get up and find out that whatever it was didn't kill you after all. I absolutely adored this book!...

3. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I know already that this will become one of my all-time favourite series and I am so ready to spend the rest of my life with Fitz and the Fool!

River's review of Bury Your Gays 4/5: 4.5/5 On a long enough timeline, endings are inevitable. Tragedy is inevitable. Fortunately, so is joy. This was amazing! I enjoyed literally every moment, even the ones where I could feel ...

4. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

This is literally my perfect horror read! I adored every moment and constantly think about it!

River's review of Running Close to the Wind 4/5: 4.5/5 They believe that the stories and histories of the people who live here are valuable and important and worthy of being remembered. This was an absolute blast! I have never had so much...

5. Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

This was SO FUN and so hilarious! Pirates! Queer, messy, silly little pirates! What more could you want?

The Deep Yetu holds the memories for her people. Her people, th…

6. The Deep by Rivers Solomon

www.goodreads.com/book/show/42...

This was my first read of 2024 and I still think about it all the time! It’s phenomenal in so many ways, and I have never come across such incredible and unique autistic representation!

River's review of Celestial Monsters (The Sunbearer Duology, #2) 4/5: 4.5/5 You're only a monster if you choose to be. I love this world and these characters with all my heart! It was so much fun to return to this series, I would read books and books and book...

7. Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas (sequel to The Sunbearer Trials)

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I adore this series, it’s so exciting, and I loved that in this book we explored more of the world! The characters are so much fun to read about and I adore how much it centres trans joy!

River's review of A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) 4/5: 4.5/5 For the ones who dream of stranger worlds. There is a certain magic to a V.E. Schwab book that is almost impossible to put into words. It's a uniquely magical, fantastical, atmospheri...

8. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I love Schwab, but this was my first time reading adsom and I was blown away! The world is so inventive and I was hooked immediately!

River's review of When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1) 4/5: 4.5/5 Gentle enough in spirit to live among mortals but fierce enough to endure their cruelty. I absolutely adored this novella! It's filled to the brim with creatures and monsters from fol...

9. When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

This was a completely unexpected read and such an incredible novella! Highly recommend if you love Polish/Slavic folklore!

The Constellations Are Unrecognizable Here Pictures of me that day are kept in the ship’s files, sent back to Earth to be used in my captors’ eventual war crimes tribunals.

10. The Constellations Are Unrecognizable Here by Andrew Joseph White

strangehorizons.com/fiction/the-...

This is a phenomenal short story! I adore AJW! Compound Fracture should also be on this list, but I loved it so much that I didn’t want to finish it!!

My Top 10 Books of 2024:
(A thread #booksky)

so excited to finally get back to reading after the stress of the holidays!

River's review of The Lotus Empire (The Burning Kingdoms, #3) 5/5: 4.5/5 I promised long ago that I would carry your grief for you. So lay it in my hands. I am a broken shell, I am ruined, I am wrecked. This was so beautiful. I have no words (but I will st...

my review on goodreads:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

finished the lotus empire by tasha suri last night and sobbed the whole way through ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #booksky

i am officially safe from the duolingo bird for one more year !

frothing at the mouth for new rf kuang, ve schwab, tasha suri, samantha shannon, fonda lee, olivie blake, andrew joseph white and so many more next year !!!

randomly started City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky and it’s brilliant so far! each perspective follows someone different, there’s a boy who talks to a god only he believes in and only he can see, there’s an underworld of demons ?? desperate to find out more about this world!

Hi! I’m River (they/them), you might know me from BookTok or Goodreads.
📖About me: I’m 20 and from the UK. I’m autistic, disabled, and 🏳️‍🌈 and 🏳️‍⚧️ as hell!
📚I love fantasy, sci-fi, and anything speculative
📚I love reading and recommending diverse books
✍️I also enjoy writing

linktr.ee/rivermadalenski

oh fuck this. support actual publishing disruptors like @binderybooks.bsky.social

2025 is the year of all my favs !!!!

SCREAMINGGG SO UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED FOR THE SAPPHIC KNIGHT/WITCH BOOK !!!!!